The Patent Process

PATENTABILITY SEARCH CHOICES

"We're Committed to Your Success(sm)"

We:

Provide the search you need;

within a quick turn-around time;

at the right price.

We offer three different patentability searches from which you may select, depending upon your needs. Turn around time is about 2 weeks for each selection. To provide the highest quality to cost ratio, all of our searches are conducted by people who are Registered Practitioners of the US Patent and Trademark Office, who therefore know how to search, and who understand the relevancy of prior art to the invention. This is in sharp contrast to most of our competitors.

1) Conventional Patent Search - only $ 595. In this search you receive copies of all relevant US Patents turned up in the search, and a written search report in hard copy form and on diskette. This is a traditional patentability search and has historically been the most popular search.

2) Preliminary Prosecution Report(sm) - just $795. This premium-level search is the ultimate, and is so good, that I filed for a patent on it. For $ 795, you get copies of all relevant US patents turned up in the search and a written search report, just as in a traditional search. However, in addition, our experienced Patent Agent drafts a main claim for your invention. Then, we make mock rejection(s) of the main claim using the prior art patents turned up in the search as a basis, just like a Patent Examiner might do. We further provide rebuttal arguments to the mock rejection(s). From this excellent work product you get to see the form that the main claim for your invention (drafted by an experienced Practitioner) could take. You also get to see what we believe would be successful arguments to the mock rejections, based on our 8 years patent prosecution experience with an over 95% success rate. Ideal for independent inventors, but also good for attorneys because you get a full search and you get to see our creative claim drafting which will definitely give you ideas on claim strategy. This search is beginning to catch on and we hope it becomes the industry standard. If you are interested in a license from us for your geographical area, now is the best time.

3) References Only Search - only $ 350. In this budget-minded approach to a search you receive the US Patent references which are identified in the search, with no formal report or write-up. This search is usually of most benefit to experienced inventors and patent attorneys/agents.

What is a Patent Search ?

       The patent search is an early step and key aspect of the process of obtaining a patent. When properly done, it can save the inventor/company thousands of dollars and/or several months of time in the patent office.
        While one obvious purpose of the search is to determine whether an invention is new or not before an inventor invests time and $$$ in marketing products and/or services, a more important (and often overlooked) purpose is to determine the breadth of patent claims we can reasonably anticipate to be found allowable by the Patent Office on a patent application filed for the invention. Once it is determined that an invention is in fact new over what was known previously ("prior art"), the search results enable the writing claims of the proper scope in view of the prior art to obtain the broadest coverage possible.
         If the claims that are likely to be found allowable and are broad enough to provide an inventor with a business advantage, then it is usually a good idea to file for a patent. Thus, proper claim drafting depends on the search.   Without knowing what is in the prior art, the chances of writing claims to avoid rejections based on the prior art are miniscule, and the Applicant would be basically guaranteed of having their application rejected, thus necessitating amendments, delays, and increased costs.
        A good US Patent search will run about $ 500 on the bottom end. The high end for a US search is about $ 1000 - 1500.   My client John VanDyke from Kalamazoo told me he was charged $ 5500 by a law firm in Michigan, and all he got for his money was a patent search ! But, also, DON'T be fooled by people offering searches for like $ 200 - they are not worth your time or money, unless the provider is an admitted philanthropist. Don't overpay, but don't underpay. Consider what John Ruskin (1819-1900) said:

"It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

Although committed professionals, we tend to deal in a somewhat casual format, because I have several inventions myself, and have walked in your shoes. I learned long ago that to succeed in satisfying Clients' needs, one needs to be highly customer-driven, i.e., listen to your Client. Please tell us what you need.

REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Provisional, Utility, or Design Patent Applications - Yes, we perform patent searches. But, we also can help you with any part or all of your patenting needs, as we also write and prosecute patent applications and have an extremely high success rate. Our fees are among the most reasonable out there. We can help at every step of the way, from conception of your idea to the day we get you the patent from the government. We have never failed to obtain a patent on an invention for which we did both the search and the application preparation, except when abandonment was requested by the inventor, or where the invention was found during the search.

Please email me with any questions by clicking on the link below:

chrisw@patentsearcher.com

Thank you for visiting,
Yours truly,

Christopher J. Whewell, Trustee
Western Patent Group
6020 Tonkowa Trail
Georgetown, Texas 78628
(888) 301-6774 TOLL FREE

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We use only Practitioners who are registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office to do work for inventors with patentable inventions. We do not provide marketing services.

Important Notice: Use of this website will not establish an attorney-client, agent-client, or other commercial relationship, and such a relationship will only exist if and after an engagement letter has been signed. No representations or warranties are made with respect to any of the information contained within this website, and particularly in reference to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. The material contained within this website and its links is for general information purposes only, and shall not be construed as legal advice; nor should it be relied upon in place of seeking legal advice relative to your individual situation from a qualified Patent Practitioner or Counsel.

Since the law is always evloving, the information contained within this website may not always be current with the most recent changes. Feel free to send comments or questions by phone or e-mail but please do not send confidential information in any initial contact.